| A．Children should play sports at least once a week. |
| B．The woman’s kids can play football with his son. |
| C．Many children feel bored when left alone. |
| D．The woman’s sons might enjoy team sports. |
“Parents today want their kids spending time on things that can bring them success, but ironically, we’ve stopped doing one thing that’s actually been a proven predictor of success—and that’s household chores.” says Richard Rende, a developmental psychologist in Paradise Valley, Ariz., and co-author of the forthcoming book “raising Can-Do Kids”. Decades of studies show the benefits of chores--academically, emotionally and professionally.
Giving children household chores at an early age helps to build a lasting sense of mastery, responsibility and independence, according to research by Marty Rossmann, professor at the University of Minnesota. In 2002, Dr. Rossmann analyzed data from a longitudinal(纵向的) study that followed 84 children across four periods in their lives--in preschool around ages 10 and 15, and in their mid-20s. She found that young adults who began chores at ages 3 and 4 were more likely to have good relationships with family and friends and to achieve academic and early career success and to be self-sufficient, as compared with those who didn’t have chores or who started them as teens.
Chores also teach children how to be empathetic and responsive to others’ needs, notes psychologist Richard Weissbourd. In research, his team surveyed 10,000 high-school students and asked them to rank what they treasured more: achievement, happiness or caring for others. Almost 80% chose either achievement or happiness over caring for others. As he points out, however, research suggests that personal happiness comes most reliably not from high achievement but from strong relationships. “We’re out of balance,” says Dr. Weissbourd. A good way to start re-adjusting priorities, he suggests, is by learning to be kind and helpful at home.
The next time that your child asks to skip chores to do homework, resist the urge to let him or her off the hook. Being slack(懈怠的) about chores when they compete with school sends your child the message that grades and achievement are more important than caring about others. What may seem like small messages in the moment add up to big ones over time.
